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VIDEO: ‘Climate emergency’ is Oxford’s 2019 Word of the Year

Other words on the shortlist included ‘extinction,’ ‘climate denial’ and ‘eco-anxiety’

Oxford Dictionaries has chosen “climate emergency” as the 2019 Word of the Year.

Since 2018, the use of “climate emergency” has increased by 100 times.

The Word of the Year citation is meant to capture the “preoccupations of the passing year, and have a lasting potential as a term of cultural significance.”

All the words on this year’s shortlist related to the environment, such as “extinction,” “climate denial” and “eco-anxiety.”

Words in past years include “vape,” “toxic” and “post-truth.”

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The Canadian Press

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